Postcard from Kissimmee: Keeping it in the family

If the Phillies-Astros games usually take on the feel of a family reuinion, then this was the year that the family was squabbling over the will. Not just because of the Bill Hall-Cole Hamels incident, but because many of the family members no-showed.

As Ed Wade has found himself a frequent trade partner with his old team and picking up a few players who used to call Philly home, these games have always included some pretty serious pre-game hug sessions. Not to mention the need for writers to be running around catching the fanbase up with old friends.

There was little of that going on Monday when the teams met in Kissimmee. Roy Oswalt didn’t make the trip — he’d just pitched the day before in a minor league game. Brad Lidge stayed back with biceps tendinitis. On the Astros side, former Phillies Michael Bourn and Jason Michaels didn’t start, J.A. Happ and Brett Myers didn’t pitch, and Nelson Figueroa only had a very limited stint with the Phils.

This one was just a game, and eventually as teams turn over and the novelty of seeing Oswalt in a brighter red wanes, they all will be.